The document which is the subject of the following paper has the interest of being the only copy of the only direct record of a whole period of Greek literature—the period, namely, of the poets who carried on the traditions of Homeric art in the eighth and seventh centuries B.C. It is a fragment in a double sense: first because it is a mere extract, and secondly because the pages on which it is preserved are themselves in a fragmentary condition. It professes to be derived from a certain χρηστομάθεια γραμματική—a kind of primer or résumé of Greek literature—the work of a grammarian named Proclus; and contains, with other matter, part of his account of the so-called ‘Epic Cycle.”

Regarding Proclus himself nothing is certain, except that he is not Proclus Diadochus, the Platonic philosopher of the fifth century. According to Welcker's probable conjecture, he is to be identified with Eutychius Proclus of Sicca, instructor of the emperor M. Antoninus

Documents in the script known as ‘Minoan Linear B’ were unearthed at Knossos in Crete over fifty years ago. About the same time a few examples of the same script were found at Thebes and other places inmainland Greece. But it was not till 1939 that tablets like those from Knossos came to light in Mainland Greece, near the Messenian Pylos, and not till after the Second World War that they appeared at Mycenae itself.

Before the Pylian discoveries, European scholars had made several attempts to read the script; but their conclusions neither persuaded classical scholars nor wakened public interest. In this matter the discoverer of the Knossian documents, Sir Arthur Evans, seems to have imposed his own restraint on others. The acquisition of what may well be the household accounts of King Nestor created a new enthusiasm for the problem; as soon as the war ended, journals on both sides of the Atlantic began to print essays by various writers who hoped to decipher parts of the script. Mr. Michael Ventris was among these writers; and from the outset his methods were bolder and more resolute than those of the others. By 1951 his tentative decipherment of the Linear B script was being circulated privately; by 1952 he was explaining it in lectures addressed to learned societies; and a year later, in collaboration with Mr. John Chadwick, he published a full account of his solution in the Journal of Hellenic Studies (LXXIII (1953), pp. 84–103).

Mr. Ventris' claims are as follows: (1) The language of all the Linear B writings is Greek, and that of a pre-Dorian kind allied to classical Arcadian and Cyprian. (2) The script is in the main a syllabary, akin to the classical Cyprian syllabary. (3) By studying the way in which the syllabic signs are used (their frequency, position in the word, combination of one sign with another, etc.), and by inferring the content of the documents from certain signs which are not syllabic but ideographic, it is possible to discover the phonetic value of most of the syllabic signs. Mr. Ventris describes how he carried out the work of decipherment and produces phonetic values for most of the signs and also rules of orthography; and finally, he shows how his conclusions can be applied to various documents from Knossos and Pylos.

In the myth of Pelops in Ol. 1.25-93, Pindar makes various selections, elaborations and innovations of the mythic material available to him. Kakridis has shown that the mention of Zeus' house (line 42), of the anxiety of one of Pelops' parents (46) and of wondrous horses (87) makes the story conform to that of Ganymede, which Pindar cites as a parallel in lines 43–5, while other choices, which cannot be so explained, Kakridis attributes to Pindar's striving for variation.

Krischer has further shown that in lines 65–94, the explicit parallel with Ganymede is replaced by an implicit parallel with Achilles. Achilles has an ally in battle (Thetis), a divinity to whom he prays alone by the sea-shore (ll. i 349-50), who suddenly appears to him (ll. i 359), and to whom he claims to prefer a short life with honour to a long inglorious one (ll. xviii 155-21).

A study of the Greek numeral systems as illustrated by extant inscriptions has convinced me that there are many misconceptions still current which require correction, and that there is an urgent need for the collection and tabulation of the evidence for the acrophonic systems of Greece, those, that is, of which the numerals employed in Attica down to Roman times form the best known example. This task I hope to essay in the forthcoming volume of the British School Annual, but meantime I may briefly discuss three instances which have not hitherto met with the attention they deserve. If the results attained are not in all cases certain, I hope that I shall at least succeed in calling attention to the problems and in stimulating someone else to seek and to discover their true solution.

The author discusses an inscription of the late fourth or early third century BC carved on a bronze plaque found in the first excavations at Dodona, on which a Zakynthian, by name Agathon, records a link of proxeny between himself and his family and the Epirote koinon of the Molossians, through Kassandra, the Trojan prophetess. The plaque is decorated by a prominent phallus with testicles, which the author interprets as referring to the continuity, past and future, of the γενεά of Agathon. Other explanations of the whole piece have been proposed, and the present essay is intended only to explore the possibility of this interpretation.

In my paper on ‘Boat-races among the Greeks’ (above, pp. 90—8) I brought together a considerable number of testimonies to prove that boat-racing was a Hellenic sport. As I was to a great extent breaking new ground, it can scarcely arouse surprise if I failed to make my collection of authorities complete. Since the paper appeared friends have been good enough to point out to me two or three fresh passages of writers bearing on the subject of boat-races. Of these the most important is quoted by Mr. Ridgeway from Pausanias. That writer speaking of the town of Hermione, says, ‘Near by is the temple of Dionysus Melanaegis. In his honour is yearly held a musical festival, with swimming races, and boat-races (καὶ πλοίων τιθέασιν ἆθλα).’ Hermione is situate on a very sheltered bay at the extremity of Argolis, and so admirably adapted as a site for swimming races and for races of small boats.

A far more interesting reference than that I have mentioned I owe to the courtesy of Dr. Hirschfeld. He points out to me that in the valuable series of Ephebic inscriptions recently discovered, mention is more than once made of boat-races engaged in by the Attic Ephebi, as a regular part of their training. I could scarcely have missed these mentions had not Dumont misled me by calling the races joutes nautiques. To us they are specially interesting because the system of training of Ephebi at Athens, which we can trace upwards to the third century B.C., corresponds more closely to a modern English University education than anything else in antiquity.

IONE Mylonas Shear claims in her article in JHS 2002 that two Mycenaean animal figurines from Ugarit, only one of which has been previously published, represent Mycenaean centaurs and are thus predecessors of centaurs of the historical period. It is quite clear, however, that both belong to the so-called ‘abbreviated group’ figurines, which consist of driven oxen – ‘plough’ (PLATE 8a) – or single chariots, as identified by E.B. French and further defined by me in my work on the terracottas from the Sanctuary of Aphaia on Aigina. In an abbreviated group there is only one animal instead of two, with one human, sometimes two, standing at the rear of the animal, in or behind a small or almost non-existent box or balustrade. According to what animal head is at the front of the figurine, either horse or bovine, it is an abbreviated chariot or, much more commonly, a driven ox. In the fully preserved pieces the head of the driver always faces towards the animal head.

At Knossos Mackenzie seems again to have performed the duties that we would now designate as those of the site supervisor. But the exact nature of his responsibilities, the limits of his authority and the personal relationship between him and Evans are something of an enigma. The problem has important scientific implications in view of the controversy that has developed since 1962 about the dependability of some aspects of Evan's publications. The conundrum, in short, concerns the exact roles that the two men played in the gradual evolution of theories from the moment of discovery of crucial evidence until the final arguments and conclusions appeared in definitive publications.

It is with some diffidence that I publish the following paper. It is indeed the result of considerable study of the literature of the subject, and of the best of a week's work on the spot last autumn. But unfortunately I never expected, when I went to Pylos, that I should have so much to say about it, and I took with me neither leave to excavate, nor appliances for measurements and photography. I feel therefore that my views can scarcely in the nature of things carry with them the same weight as those which Mr. Grundy has based on the detailed survey which he conducted under the auspices of the University of Oxford a week or two before my visit. I am afraid our conclusions on certain points may prove to differ. My documentary evidence is at present non-existent, and my measurements are one and all rough and approximate. I can only ask Mr. Grundy and the reader to remember that I spent more than forty hours exploring the ground, and that, as survey work was unhappily out of the question, I had thus ample time to form an opinion on the topography of what is after all a very limited area.

Alexandria. —At Kom esh Shuqafa the Graeco-Roman Museum under the direction of Alan Rowe carried out in 1941-2 supplementary investigations in the catacombs. These reveal that the catacombs and other tombs were cut out in a great semicircular rock plateau which originally rose to a height of fifty feet above the surrounding area. This had been obscured by the great mass of debris which had accumulated over and around the rock.

The following observations were made during a general study of Greek horsemanship, but, being somewhat controversial and turning upon points of textual criticism and the interpretation of technical terms, they may perhaps be of interest to scholars rather than to the public.

(1) iv 2.

‘It is not only to save the corn from being stolen that a safe stall is good, but because it becomes obvious whenever the horse is [not] carrying out his corn.’

This sentence evidently describes some clear symptom of disease, for Xenophon continues: ‘Should you observe this happening, you may know that the body, being overcharged with blood, requires attention, or is overtired and needs rest, or that barley-sickness (κριθίασις) or some other sickness is making its onset. Just as with men, so with horses, all diseases are easier to cure at the onset than when they have established themselves and been treated mistakenly.’

The nature of ‘barley-sickness’ (colic) is excellently explained in Delebecque's commentary, but that of the warning symptom is doubtful, and depends on the precise meaning to be given to ἐκκομίζῃ. The manuscripts insert a negative particle before it; this is deleted by modern editors on the evidence of Pollux i 209:

‘There is a disease of horses, barley-sickness and congestion of the blood through surfeit. And when they “carry out” their corn, then one must remove it and feed grass only, or some other light diet.’

The following notes and inscriptions represent part of the results of a journey made in the spring of 1904, supplemented and revised on a second visit paid to the same district in the following November. One inscription from Korone, a fragment of the ‘Edictum Diocletiani,’ I have already published (J.H.S. 1904, p. 195 foll.). I have attempted to state as briefly as possible the fresh topographical evidence collected on my tour, avoiding as far as possible any mere repetition of the descriptions and discussions of previous writers.

The literature dealing with this part of Greece is not extensive. I give here a list in chronological order of the more important works in which its geography and antiquities are discussed, and append to each the abbreviated title which I shall use for purposes of reference.

The Periplus Maris Erythraei, written probably in the latter half of the first century ad, is a guide for merchants trading with eastern Africa, Arabia, and India. The anonymous author lists the various ports along the routes, indicating for each the facilities to be found and the objects of trade to be bought or sold there.

A few of the ports are well known and can be identified with certainty. Many which are also mentioned in other writers, such as Strabo or Ptolemy, can be identified with varying degrees of certainty. The most difficult are those that occur only in the Periplus. One such is Tabai, on the African trade route.

The objects shown in Figs. 1 and 2 were all found in a ‘Phoenician’ rock-tomb in a field to the south of Rabato, Malta. ‘The tomb with vaulted ceiling was cut in the side of a hill. It contained cinerary urns with burnt bones, but no signs of bodies interred. Under a clay cup (Fig. lb), a gold medallion was found, on which the winged orb displayed over the half-moon, flanked by two serpents, is gracefully figured in a kind of filigree work. The medallion has a diameter of 25 mm. and weighs 6·3 grms. A similar medallion was found at Carthage (Douïmes) in 1895 and described by Delattre. With this medallion’ (i.e. with the Maltese) ‘a pair of silver bangles and fragments of two rings were found. Fragments of a small Greek vase were also discovered with the débris.’ (Fig. 2.)

Twenty-five years ago Paul Wilpert called for a thorough re-examination of our knowledge of the content of Aristotle's lost work De Philosophia. Expressing his reservations about the validity of our current reconstruction of the work, he wrote: ‘On the basis of attested fragments, we form for ourselves a picture of the content of a lost writing, and this picture in turn serves to interpret new fragments as echoes of that writing. So our joy over the swift growth of our collection of fragments is clouded by the thought that we are not thereby really nearing the original character of the work, but we are entangling ourselves ever more tightly in a picture we ourselves have created.’ As a corrective Wilpert called for a critical retracing of our steps since 1830 to establish a more secure reconstruction of this important lost work.

Since then there have been numerous, searching analyses of the ideas and fragments of De Philosophia, but at least one venerable old theory has escaped critical reappraisal: namely, the theory that in De Philosophia Aristotle discussed his doctrine of a fifth element, i.e. his belief that the heavenly bodies are composed of an element distinct from the four earthly elements, earth, water, air, and fire. This theory has become so widely accepted that it has virtually become a fact. When support is needed, most modern authors simply cite one or both of the two modern authorities on the early Aristotle, namely W. Jaeger and E. Bignone. The more meticulous restate the traditional evidence with complete confidence that this evidence proves their case. If Wilpert's hope for a firmly grounded reconstruction of the De Philosophia is ever to be achieved, one of the important desiderata today is a critical re-examination of the evidence for the fifth element in this work.

§ 1. Introductory. The history of Euboia during its occupation by the Latins is, according to Mr. Freeman, ‘the most perplexed part of the perplexed Greek history of the time.’ If we turn for information on the subject to Finlay, our one English authority on the period, we find no attempt at a consecutive account of it, merely some allusions; the history of Negroponte is a missing chapter in Finlay, which the present paper is an attempt to supply. It is also hoped that it will help to clear up some of the perplexities which beset the subject.

Before Hopf the history of this island was almost a blank. Historical investigations concerning the Franks in Romania may be divided into three periods, represented by Ducange in the seventeenth century, Buchon 1825–1846, and Hopf 1850–1870. Buchon's publication of the (with which Ducange indeed had become acquainted, but not until his Histoire de Constantinople sous les Empereurs français had been published), his discovery of the Livre de la Conqueste in Brussels, the new documents, treaties and diplomas, which he brought to light, opened a new era and stimulated a fresh study of the ‘perplexed’ history. Nothing was required now but German diligence and exhaustiveness to ransack archives and fill up the gaps, and German accuracy to correct the slips made by that französische Nonchalance of which Hopf says even Buchon was occasionally (stellenweise) guilty.

Zu den erregendsten Zeiten der Geistesgeschichte gehören sicher die zwei Jahrzehnte, in denen Aristoteles zunächst in der Schule Piatons seine philosophische Anregung empfing, um sich dann von seinem Lehrer und von der platonischen Akademie zu lösen und sein eigenes System dem seines Lehrers gegenüberzustellen.

Die folgenden Jahrhunderte richteten ihren Blick ausschlieβlich auf die ausgebildeten Systeme dieser beiden groβen Denker. Entweder stellte man ihre Ansichten als gegensätzlich einander gegenüber oder man trachtete sie irgendwie miteinander zu vereinigen. Das hatte zur Folge, daβ gerade die Jahre, da beide als Lehrer und Schüler sich begegneten, für uns in Dunkel gehüllt sind.

Wir besitzen zwar das literarische Werk Piatons, aber wir wissen wenig von seinem mündlichen Unterricht und von dem Lehrbetrieb seiner Schule. Und gerade die Reihenfolge seiner Spätschriften, die eben in die zwei Jahrzehnte fallen, da Aristoteles in der Akademie war, können wir immer noch nicht mit Sicherheit bestimmen. Aristoteles kannte natürlich die Schriften seines Lehrers, aber er war nicht auf sie angewiesen, um zu wissen, welche Ansichten Piaton vertrat. Wir wissen auch, daβ er selbst die Lehre der Akademie in Schriften vertreten hat, die teilweise im Altertum weit verbreitet und berühmt waren. Wir wissen freilich auch, daβ er in anderen seiner Schriften die Lehren Piatons bekämpfte und seine gegenteilige Ansicht begründete. Wir haben aber von diesen Schriften nur geringe und unzusammenhängende Bruchstücke. So stehen wir bei der Erforschung dieses Zeitraums, dessen Kenntnis uns doch helfen könnte, sowohl Piaton wie Aristoteles besser zu verstehen, vor groβen Schwierigkeiten.

Dr. Forrer's discovery of the Achaeans in the Hittite cuneiform tablets of Boghaz Keui is now well known to classical scholars. His identification of them with the Hittite Akhkhiyawas is beyond question, and I am inclined to think that Dr. Cowley has made a happy suggestion in further identifying them with the Hivites (Ha-Khiwwî) of the Old Testament. On the other hand, the identification of the Akhkhiyan chieftain Attarassiyas (also written Attarsiyas) with the Homeric Atreus is phonetically impossible; nor would the date of Attarsiyas agree with that usually assigned by tradition to Atreus.

About 1250 B.C. Attarsiyas the kuirwanas or κοίρανος of the Akhkhiyawa came from the western side of Asia Minor with a fleet of 100 ships to the Pamphylian coast (hardly the Karian, as Forrer proposes). He had previously driven a tributary of the Hittite king, by name Madduwattas, from his dominions in the south-western part of Asia Minor; Dudkhaliyas III, however, the Hittite monarch, had restored the latter, but on the death of Dudkhaliyas, and in the first year of the reign of his successor, Arnuwandas, Attarsiyas made another attack, this time by sea, and again compelled Madduwattas to solicit help from his suzerain.